


you can't go back, same way you came

by weasleytook



Category: The Cabin in the Woods (2011)
Genre: Alternate Ending, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-12-24
Updated: 2013-12-24
Packaged: 2018-01-05 21:34:21
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,935
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1098838
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/weasleytook/pseuds/weasleytook
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>This time, Dana pulls the trigger.</p>
            </blockquote>





	you can't go back, same way you came

**Author's Note:**

  * For [ijemanja](https://archiveofourown.org/users/ijemanja/gifts).



> I saw your prompts ages ago and was like "SO GOOD" and then I figured other people would write for you because SERIOUSLY SO GOOD so I could abstain. BUT THEN I JUST COULDN'T RESIST. So thank you for being a brilliant prompter and I hope you enjoy!
> 
> Thanks to my beta for being so wonderful! All remaining mistakes are 100% my own.

Her hand doesn’t tremble when she points the gun at Marty’s head. She always thought your hand was supposed to tremble when you’re two seconds away from killing someone. Not just someone, her _friend_. Her crazy, funny, good-hearted friend Marty, who would never hurt anyone.

“It’s in your hands, Dana. There’s no other way. You have to be strong.” 

She doesn’t want to listen to this woman, The Director, but in those five seconds, she thinks of home. Dana sees her little sister’s face and her parents and everyone she loves that will no longer exist just because of one weekend in the woods.

Marty looks shocked and says, “Yeah, Dana. You feelin’ strong?”

She can barely get the words out but it has to be said, “I’m sorry.”

Pulling the trigger comes easy. Too easy. 

Before she even has a chance to process it, she gets knocked to the ground and feels teeth piercing her flesh. Something – a wolf, she thinks – no, a werewolf – is on top of her, trying to tear her apart. Dana finds the trigger again, fires, and the beast squeals and falls off of her.

When she sits up, she sees The Director pushing it in to the pit below.

“This has been the weirdest fucking day.”

And then she blacks out.

 

*

 

She wakes up in a small room that’s as clean and sterile as she now looks. Her wounds have been stitched up and she’s dressed in a white t-shirt and a pair of scrub pants.

Everything around her is so white and bright that it hurts her eyes at first. As soon as she feels strong enough to stand, she goes to the door and is stunned to find that it’s unlocked.

She steps barefoot into the hallway and is greeted by a man around thirty in a very serious looking black suit and tie.

“Come with me, Miss Polk.” He turns and starts walking down the hallway, so she follows.

She doesn’t question it because at least nothing is trying to disembowel her or eat her face off for the first time in days. 

He takes her through a maze of hallways, each one as bright and sanitary as the last, until he finally arrives at an unmarked door. A swipe of a card and a retinal scan later, and he’s escorting her into what she guesses is The Director’s office.

She looks no worse for the wear despite everything that has happened, and is immaculately dressed in a dark blue suit. “Thank you, Adam.”

He nods and exits immediately. Dana takes a seat across from The Director at a very expensive looking desk.

“Welcome back, Dana.”

Her voice is hoarse as she replies, “How – how long have I been asleep?”

“Two days.”

Dana’s first thought is that she was basically comatose and _someone_ had to clean her up and fix her wounds and she doesn’t know whether to feel violated or grateful. She doesn’t know what to feel about anything anymore.

“Oh. I’m just – I have no idea how to process this.”

“Of course you don’t. And I’m sure you have plenty of questions, but first we have some business to deal with.”

Dana watches in silence as The Director stands and pours a glass of water for her, which she eagerly takes. She drinks most of it in one long gulp and then sets it down on the edge of the desk.

“Where are we?”

“We call it Site B. Site A, where you were before, is currently in lockdown - what’s left of it anyway. We have always had a second team in place in case of a catastrophe, and you letting loose our entire menagerie certainly qualifies.”

She doesn’t know if she should laugh or cry. Take down a whole underground facility, and there’s another one to take its place. It’s all so _pointless_. 

“Oh.”

“Now, I promise all of your questions will be answered in time, but back to that business.”

She pulls two stacks of paper out of a red folder and sets them side by side in front of Dana. Her perfectly manicured nails tap the one on the left first. “This is your first choice. You can go back to your normal life, and we will tell the world that you and your friends were in an accident and you were the sole survivor. This is a detailed confidentiality agreement in which you agree not to speak a word of what happened here. Take this deal and life will proceed as normal. Try to tell anyone the truth and we will make sure you’re locked up in a padded room for the remainder of your years.”

“Oh.” She knows she’s saying that a lot, too much probably, but it’s all she can get out.

The Director taps the papers on the right and continues, “This here; this is an employment contract.”

“Oh. _Oh_. Pardon?”

“You’re a smart girl, Dana. You proved that to me when you infiltrated our facility –“

“But that was Marty.”

“No matter. You are resourceful, determined, and willing to make a sacrifice for the greater good. In fact, you remind me of myself when I was your age.”

She somehow finds her confidence again and replies, “I bet you say that to all your sacrificial virgins.”

One corner of The Director’s mouth twitches up in amusement. “Most of them don’t make it this far. And the few that did, well, none of them had to do what you did.”

Dana feels heavy; the weight of what she did hurts, and she can’t close her eyes for fear of seeing the look on Marty’s face as she pulled the trigger.

When she’s able to breathe again she says, “So you want me to come work for you? After what you did to my friends? And me?”

“You may hate me now, and what I do. But in time you will come to understand that it is the right thing. Four or five lives every year to save seven billion. I promise you will change your mind. I felt that way once too, but I changed and so will you.”

“Wait – were you –“

“The so-called virgin sacrifice? Oh yes, many years ago. Things were much different back then, not as high-tech of course, but I was one of the few who made it. And the previous director saw in me what I see in you.”

This job offer isn’t the _most_ absurd thing she’s ever heard, because the most absurd moment in her life happened two days ago.

“But I _hate_ this. I don’t want to be a killer. I’m not like you. I couldn’t be –“

“You pulled that trigger. You’re more like me than you think.”

“But I don’t want to be.”

The Director turns the picture frame on her desk around to show her. It’s a family photo; her, a husband, and two grown kids. “That’s my family. My daughter went to Stanford and has been recently accepted into Harvard Law. My son is valedictorian of his high school class. We have a vacation home in Cape Cod, and we have travelled all over the world.”

“And do they know?”

“Of course not. They think I sell airplane parts. My point is, you can have everything you’ve ever wanted if you say yes. I won’t lie; it’s not an easy job, and this year will be particularly challenging since we have so much to rebuild. But this is your opportunity to do something important, to save the world - and if you don’t like the way I run things, then find a way to change it. That’s what I did, and that’s why I’m running the whole operation now.”

Dana looks down at her hands, remembering exactly how that gun felt, and she knows she’ll have to spend the rest of her life convincing herself that it was the right thing to do. It wasn’t fair but it was _right_. She looks back up and asks quietly, “Can I have some time to think it over?”

“Of course.” The Director takes both contracts and places them back in the folder before sliding it across to Dana again. “Take these with you, read over them and we can talk again tomorrow. Or whenever you’re ready. Adam is outside and will escort you back to your room. Our on-site chef should have your dinner there right away and if you need anything else, a guard will be on duty in the hallway to help you.”

“Thank you.” She doesn’t even know whether saying thank you is appropriate in this increasingly strange context, but it’s habit, politeness that was drilled into her since birth.

Dana takes the folder and walks towards the door, but pauses before she opens it to look back at this powerful, intimidating woman who has some crazy idea that Dana is just like her. “Your friends – the ones that they – that they sacrificed. Do you ever miss them?”

There’s only the slightest crack in her façade; her mouth droops just the tiniest bit and she gets a far-away look in her eyes as she answers, “Every single day.”

 

*

 

The meal they deliver to her room is both plentiful and delicious. If she were making a pro/con list about taking this job, she’d definitely have to put the food on the pro list.

She spends the rest of the night curled up on the bed reading both contracts and wishing that Jules and Curt were here with her. They would know what to tell her and what to do. She realizes she hasn’t cried yet, not for them, or for Holden and Marty or for all those nameless people who came before them and made the same sacrifice. The tears never come and she doesn’t even feel sad, she just feels _angry_. 

Dana can’t go back to life the way it was because she can’t take back what she knows now; that life is cruel and humanity is fragile and sometimes terrible things must be done. And it makes her _furious_ that there is nothing she can do about it.

So she screams and pounds her fists into the wall until the guard outside her room rushes in. She stops and backs up so that she’s in the corner, attempting to catch her breath while the guard looks at her in bewilderment.

Dana looks at her hands, already bruising from hitting the wall and clears her throat. Once she finds her voice, she calmly says, “When your boss comes in, please tell her that I need to see her immediately.”

“Yes, ma’am.”

He leaves and Dana slides down the wall, pulls her knees to her chest and _finally_ cries. She cries for everyone she’s lost and everyone who was sacrificed before them. She cries for herself and when she’s out of tears, she falls asleep curled into a ball on the floor.

 

*

 

The next morning as she follows Adam down the hall to The Director’s office, she feels different. Stronger, more confident and oddly enough, a little bit taller.

The Director is standing behind her desk and Dana does not hesitate. She pulls one of the contracts out of the folder and tosses it in front of her.

“If you check the last page, you’ll see that I’ve signed it already.” Dana looks back at Adam with sideways grin. “Thanks for the pen.”

The Director looks at her with a satisfied smile. “I’m glad you came to the right decision.”

Dana smiles back. A few days ago she saved the world. Now it’s time to change it.


End file.
